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Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoReed Saxon | Associated PressCapitol Records, shown here, is near the site of two planned towers in Hollywood, but the new project might be scuttled if it’s found to be on the Hollywood fault.

LOS ANGELES — California’s state geologist has declared that the Hollywood earthquake fault is
active and may run directly underneath a skyscraper project approved by the Los Angeles City
Council last month.

The assertion raises new doubts about whether the 1-million-square foot Millennium Hollywood
project — which would create two of Hollywood’s tallest towers — should go forward without
significantly more seismic safety testing than the city has so far required.

While the Hollywood fault has been known for several decades, geologists have never mapped its
precise route on a block-by-block level. Steep slopes formed by old fault ruptures are visible from
the street on both sides of the project location, where developers want to erect 39-story and
35-story towers.

Several geologists interviewed by the
Los Angeles Times have urged extensive testing to determine exactly where the fault lies.
If an earthquake fault is found underneath the Millennium towers, it could force a revision of
architectural plans or scuttle the project.

California law bars construction of new buildings within 50 feet of an earthquake fault declared
active and mapped by state officials. A building over a fault can be ripped in half during an
earthquake.

There have been questions about how active the Hollywood fault is. But the head of the
California Geological Survey, John Parrish, said in an interview there is now ample evidence that
the fault is active and capable of producing a devastating earthquake.

Parrish said strands of the Hollywood fault appear to run underneath the Millennium towers site
near Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street but that further tests are needed for final
confirmation.

“This is a very big project that they’re working on, and they should have the latest information
that’s available,” he said.

Brian Lewis, a spokesman for the New York-based developer, said geologists did testing at the
city’s direction and found no evidence of a fault at the site. But he added: “We’re happy to do
more testing, and we fully intend to do more testing. We have no interest in building anything that
would be unsafe.”

In the next few months, state geologists will also perform a visual examination of the
fault.

The research will culminate with the state creating a zone around the fault. The fault is not a
straight line, but more like a fracture zone — like cracks in a broken piece of peanut brittle.

The Millennium project has prompted the state to accelerate its study, and it hopes to have
results by early 2014.